Death toll continues rising in landslide in southwest China

By Kevin Wang, CNN

Updated 1926 GMT (0226 HKT) July 12, 2013

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Deadly floods sweep China – Rescuers work at the site of a massive landslide in Dujiangyan in southwest China's Sichuan province on Friday, July 12. The landslide killed at least 43 people and left 118 missing. The flooding that triggered the landslide has affected 1.5 million people and inundated tens of thousands of acres of crops.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – The Tuo River floods Jintang county on Thursday, July 11.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – Rescuers use boats to relocate victims as the Tuo River floods Jintang county on July 11. The area is roughly 1,100 miles southwest of Beijing, the capital of China.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – A rescuer helps a woman escape the floodwaters of the Tuo on July 11.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – A resident walks in muddy water after a landslide triggered by heavy rains hit Dujiangyan on Wednesday, July 10. The landslide was the size of a small town and killed at least 43 people, state media reported.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – A woman looks on in the aftermath of the landslide in Dujiangyan on July 10.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – A road in Wenchuan county was destroyed by rain-triggered mudslides on July 10.

Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – Residents travel on an excavator through flooded streets in Chengdu, the capital of Sichaun province, on July 9.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – The ruins of the collapsed Panjiang Bridge, also called Qinglian Bridge, lie in a flooded river in the city of Jiangyou on July 9.

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Deadly floods sweep Sichuan, China – A rescuer pulls a ship in a flooded area of Suining city on Monday, July 1.

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Story highlights

Death toll reaches 31 after rain-induced landslide in Sichuan province

166 people are missing near the city of Dujiangyan

Flooding has deluged 81,000 acres of crops, caused more than $40 million in losses

Rescuers in China had pulled a total of 31 bodies from the wreckage from a landslide the size of a small town that rushed down a mountain earlier in the week.State-run CCTV reported on Friday that the number of people missing in and around the city of Dujiangyan was 166, up from 107 the previous day.

The flooding that caused the landslide has destroyed 5,100 houses and damaged another 90,000. Rescuers continued digging through the debris in search of survivors and victims.

The forecast calls for less rain, which should make the search easier.

Flooding that triggered the landslide has affected 1.5 million people and inundated tens of thousands of acres of crops. The torrents have plagued the mountainous region since Monday, smashing bridges and knocking out power to thousands.

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They have washed away property worth more than $40 million, provincial officials said.

Zhang Jiuchun is an interior designer living in Mianyang, the second-largest city in Sichuan. He told CNN in a phone interview that flooding, landslides and mudslides have paralyzed highway and rail services in many parts of the province.

Zhang said suburban areas have been hit the hardest.

"I think it's the worst since 1998," Zhang said of the disaster, referring to major flooding sweeping across China over a decade ago.

Xinhua also reported that more than 400 stranded people have been securely moved out of Dujiangyan.